The present disclosure relates generally to flexible doll toys and action figure toys. More particularly, it includes dolls and action figures in which the outer surface of the toy is a soft, flesh-like material, and an inner skeleton includes a bendable armature.
Many different varieties of flexible dolls and action figures have been developed over the years, mainly for the purposes of entertainment and display. Creation of a flexible or posable figure generally requires creation of a movable articulated body and limbs, ideally configured to retain whatever pose the figure is placed into. Furthermore, it is desirable that the figure be posable a large number of times without failure of the structure.
One class of posable figures includes an inner armature or skeleton including joints to recreate the articulation of a human skeleton, and a molded outer covering or body constructed of a flexible material that surrounds and is bonded or otherwise anchored to the inner armature. Examples of such toys are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 280,986, 1,189,585, 1,551,250, 1,590,898, 2,017,023, 2,073,723, 2,109,422, 2,392,024, 2,601,740, 2,684,503, 3,325,939, 3,284,947, 3,395,484, 3,624,691, 3,955,309, 4,123,872, 4,136,484, 4,233,775, 4,932,919, 4,954,118, 4,964,836, 5,516,314, 5,630,745, 5,762,531, 5,800,242, 6,155,904, and 6,217,406, and in publications JP49-18954, JP49-18955, JP60-97067, JP61-94090, JP61-94091, JP61-94092, JP62-53686, JP62-164092, JP63-103685, JP11-221369, WO0067869, and WO0010665. Other examples of flexible doll toys and action figure toys are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,277,601, 3,716,942, 4,470,784, 4,932,919, 5,017,173, and 6,074,270, and in publication WO0108776. The disclosures of all of these patents and publications are incorporated herein by reference.
An improved posable figure is provided, having extended life and resistance to failure, and being repeatedly posable in a realistic fashion. The posable figure includes an inner armature constructed of a bendable material such as a plurality of strands of wire, and an outer molded body covering constructed of a flexible substance such as an elastomer material, commonly a thermoplastic elastomer such as a soft polyvinyl chloride material. The armature includes a plurality of junctures between the strands of wire, which may be spot welded, connecting the strands of wire to form an articulated structure.
The advantages of the posable figure provided will be understood more readily after a consideration of the Drawings and the Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment.